Is it possible to get into game design without a computer science degree?

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

the thing here is that unlike a lot of people who are already doing these as hobby or as a career, he's concerned about the school part of it, because right now he's studying in a course that he thinks can help him get into Game dev and in which he has a scholarship that can be lost if he continues on this path (if he continues to fail those subjects)...


So I guess the ultimate question here is not about he stays in the path or dream to game dev, but rather should he continue on his degree course or change courses and continue game dev on his free time...


For me, since it seems like he doesn't have the motivation to go for it, he should just find another degree, then use his free times to continue working on game dev related stuff...

 

[orochii]

You don't need a degree for game development. And that's it. The degree isn't about going to school, is about learning. But at these days, if you do it right, you can learn most stuff on the internet. Going to school is more about getting the title, something you will not need if you, for example, are an indie and start your company, or even some indie or small companies will not care about that, they will care more on if you're a capable person. Actually what is more important than school is building a curriculum.

If you like your career and see some future on it, fight for it. If not, better not lose your time and money,

Orochii Zouveleki

 

[Galenmereth]

I have degrees in Technical Drawing (architecture and engineering related) and Graphic Design. For the past five years I've worked as a programmer/system developer, which are all self-taught skills that began as hobbies while I was studying things I thought I wanted to do. All of it has become relevant when it comes to game development. For example, my map making skills are probably a result of my combined knowledge of architecture, graphic design (finding balance and harmony in the placement of visual elements) and programming, where functionality is key.

My skills in game programming are a result of tinkering, experimenting, and hacking and modding other games; using editors like the Unreal Editor, making custom units in Dark Reign using .txt files (best. thing. ever) and making crappy Flash games as a teenager.

I don't work as a technical drawer nor as a graphic designer, but I use that knowledge for what I love doing today. So my advice is to try to find studies that interest you, but don't be afraid of trying things that are seemingly unrelated to game dev just because game dev is something you want to do. All knowledge is useful for all paths in life in some way or another, whether right now or further down the road.

 

[Pugh95Bear]

yes you can check out a school in Orlando called Full Sail!
I would do that if I could afford it.

Full Sail is a For-Profit private college. They sound great, but even my counselor cringed when I mentioned going there because of money. On the other hand, they are fast track with a 24/7 facility you can access to work on advanced projects. They do not care about SAT/ACT scores, either.

 

[Kaelan]

Don't go to full sail. I have a friend who graduated from there and I've heard nothing but bad things about it. If you're doing a game degree, you should be doing a 4-year program, like DigiPen. Game development is a huge subject, even in 4 years it's hard to cover everything you need to know. There's absolutely no way you'll learn enough to be competent at your job in two years.

Same book I mentioned before, i'm pretty sure reading this will teach you what any college would, and MUCH more with the help of references and examples.

Books will never replicate a good college program. The most important thing any good game-related college degree will do is give you two things: practice and experience. Those are more important than anything else. There's just no replacement to just getting your hand dirty and actually doing the work, and no book will give you that.

If you want to get into game development, you essentially have these options:

Programmer: You have to learn a lot of math. This is including Calculus, Linear Algebra and Discrete Math. These are the fundamentals of everything that goes on in games. Most companies will want junior developers to have a wider range of knowledge rather than focus on a specific thing, so you should have some working knowledge of all the basic parts of a game (Graphics, Physics, Tools, AI, Low Level/Engine Code, etc.). And for that you need to understand the math behind it. There's a bunch of specialized programming positions you can take, but before focusing specifically on any of them, you should have a basic working knowledge of everything. To get an idea of the kind of programming that goes on in a commercial game, you can take a look at a publicly released game engine like the Doom3 engine, or a book like Game Engine Architecture or Game Programming Gems.

Artist: You need a lot of proficiency with art, 2D and 3D. You know you fit here if you're always doing some kind of art without anyone asking you or telling you to. It has to be something you love doing and have a ton of practice with. If that doesn't sound like you, this isn't your role.

Sound: You have working knowledge of music theory and can competently play at least one instrument. If you're not musical already, this isn't your thing.

Production: You have to be extremely good at organizing and at working with people. You have to be able to communicate well and generally be a people person. Ever heard of people trying to coordinate large RPG Maker projects? If you can't picture yourself doing that full-time, possibly across multiple countries, in teams of several dozen to several hundred people, this job isn't for you.

Design: You make stuff. All the time. You're constantly breaking down game mechanics, toying around with them, going beyond simply "I like this" or "I don't like this" into "why does (or doesn't) this work? why is (or isn't) this fun?". Design is mostly about practice and experience; there isn't really any other way to learn it. You'll have failed dozens of times for every time you make something worth playing. If this is what you want to do, you should be spending a very large part of your time working with tools like Unity and/or game-specific editors (Skyrim's, Warcraft's, Starcraft's, etc.) making levels, mods and implementing various gameplay mechanics. Design is not about "having ideas". Ideas are cheap, anyone can have them. It's about turning those ideas into mechanics that both work and are fun, and understanding why that is. That's the hard part.

You have to figure out what you want to do. None of these jobs are easy, which is why people get paid to do them. Whatever you want to do, you're going to have to dedicate a lot of time and effort to it. If you're having trouble with math, well, keep working at it. Math isn't about skill, it's mostly about practice. If it takes you longer to grasp concepts than other students in your class, then work harder than they do. Read more books. Watch more videos. Do more practice problems. Even if your lectures aren't that great, there's plenty of resources out there to help out (i.e.: Khan Academy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riXcZT2ICjA&list=PL987ABEB108DC4EB0, in addition to Wikipedia and Google in general). That will be true for anything you do in college: you'll get out of it what you put into it.

 

[amaranth]

Out of curiosity, how did the semester go? Here are my thoughts:

Full Sail & places like that are out for one thing: Your money. Be very wary. These places remind me of those modeling academies that try to sign up every girl on the street as long as the girl pays and only is able to place .01% of them in real jobs. (I think Digipen is the exception, though)

You certainly don't need a degree to become a designer. Most of the designers I know (indie/non-indie) don't have degrees in comp-sci or game design. If you want to see how kick-ass game designers rise in the industry, go talk to them and see how they did it.

A degree that can transfer to many different industries IS valuable. Degrees in fields like Computer Science and Business are two that can be used in many places. A degree in Game Design will severely limit your future if you one day decide games are no longer your thing.

A thought for you: I've had amazing teachers, I've had horrible teachers. If you are at a school where the teachers suck and learning is NOT fun, you might want to consider finding another university. It's possible that it's your university that is failing you, not you failing your university. Here is a story: when I started college, I took a calculus class with teacher 1. Teacher was terrible and half of the class dropped out. The next semester, I took the same calculus class with teacher 2 and the class was easy. The teacher matters!  

 

[BigEd781]

"Game Design" is not a profession. What do you want to do? Implementation requires CS ad programming, and it doesn't sound like that path is for you. Perhaps you reside more on the artistic side of things, in which case you do not need to be very technical. Perhaps you enjoy the high level design aspect more, wherein you come up with the ideas that the engineers implement (harder to get this job straight away though).


Figure out what you actual enjoy doing and then decide where that fits into game development (if it does at all). Large games have many moving pieces and require teams, where each person has their own skill to contribute toward the whole.

 

[JohnnyR]

Well, I guess everyone said everything I was going to, but I feel like I should say something..

 

I don't really see a lot of Game Designers out there, I mean, speaking about Indie Devs.. When you make a game all by yourself, you end up making the game design too, most of the times you won't even realize it! A lot of Indie Studios name their workers as Programmers or Artists, Only. I've been seeing only a few people holding on to the Game Designer Title.. Some of them want to work with it, but sometimes they don't have the skills for it or they lack a team. 

 

I myself hold on to the Game Designer Title since I got my certificated on Programming, from one of Full Sail's partners, btw... It's a game dev / artists school! (Since someone brought it up..)

I may have a degree I.T. thanks to it, but I know that I suck at it! And the Design itself, calls my attention a lot! I just can't make it my job yet, since I don't have a team to work with.. Lately, people have been looking for artists and programmers only, they forget about some other jobs in the Game Making field, like Level / Game Designers, Scripters, Animators and the guy who'll bring you coffee! haha

 

Now, if it's possible or not to be a Designer without Computer Science.. Well, I may be wrong about it, but I'd say no. I've seen lots of friends who didn't even finish High School and have better programming skills than I do! I think it depends on what aspect of it you want, if you'd like to program, then CS would be a nice thing to do, now, if you're the story / level / characters kind of guy, (Like me) I'd say it's not entirely necessary..

 

Like BigEd said, unfortunatelly Game Design is not a profession, and we can't rely on that just yet as a primary job. But if you have a team, build a game and make the whole design part by yourself, then yes, you are the game's Designer!

 

Hope that's good for something! haha